Chasing Killer Whales

A phone call from Annie – killer whales had been spotted on our coast. They were feeding on the tuna that were doing their seasonal run. Did I want to join them on the boat and maybe get some photos? Would love to.

Annie and Fuzz own Port Campbell Boat Charters.

If the crane breaks down the fishermen get upset as this is the only way to get their boats into the water.

Local fishermen getting their boat back on land. The boats cannot be moored in the water and need to be lifted in and out with each trip.

Looking for the water spout. BTW we missed the orcas but we did find…

Lots of bird activity which meant that the tuna were about. Those rocks in the background are the Twelve Apostles.

Gannets waiting for the leftovers.

Plenty of dolphins to be seen, often cruising alongside the boat.

The captain giving instructions on how to reel them in.

Two tuna were caught in a short time. After that it was decided to stop fishing as two large tuna were more than enough. Many more could have been caught. Legally, each person with a fishing license is allowed a limit of two tuna.

Being a girl, I felt sorry for the tuna.

Annie having fun.

A friendly observer.

Jim the Fisherman with his catch for the day.

Preparing dinner.

Birthday Lilies

My Mum gave me lilies. Freckles was admiring them as well.

Mum was concerned that a bunch of flowers was inadequate. Not so.

Birthday Adventure – The Otway National Park

For my birthday Raelene organised to take me to lunch at the Ridge Organic Food Store and Cafe in Beech Forest.

Before lunch we worked up an appetite by doing the walk to Beauchamp Falls – one of a number of waterfalls in the Otway National Park.

The many attractions on the walk down to the Falls.

The destination. Only problem was getting back to the car – all uphill – nearly killed me it did.

Annie and Raelene.

We continued our adventure after lunch by exploring a bit more. We drove to Forrest, visiting the West Barwon water reservoir on the outskirts.

Then onto Gellibrand and home.

Island Archway collapse

Another one of our iconic landmarks succumbed to erosion last week. If you are interested there are more details here.

This is what it did look like…

And now it looks like this. I took these photos, from the two different viewpoints, the morning of the collapse. You can see the sea is full of the resulting dirt.

Georgie’s doubleweave

This is Georgie’s doubleweave cloth – the first to be taken from the loom. You’d think I would have remembered to photograph both sides considering that is what doubleweave is mostly about, but no. Georgie still has more plans before this is fully finished. It’s final role will be as a wall hanging.

A pinafore for Granddaughter no. 2

This is the first of two pinafores I’m making for granddaughter no. 2 who is two years old. I used a pattern from Simplicity, no 5284. I quite enjoyed getting back into the sewing again. However, it confirmed that I definitely need a new overlocker. Another thing to wish for.

One of the many crimson rosellas feasting on the seeds from our birch trees. The same ones that eat most of our fruit before we get a chance to pick it from the trees.

Double Weave progress

I know how to stave off Alzheimer’s disease – keep on working out design drafts for weaving double cloth.

Every time I make a mistake I know I probably won’t make that mistake again as it takes much time and brain power to rectify it. Well, that’s the theory. The first half of this weaving is my practice piece.

This is the top cloth showing (excuse incorrect terminology). Once I began weaving it soon became obvious that I had threaded the heddles incorrectly in one area as the honey comb pattern was all out of wack where I have circled. Solution – pull the offending warp ends from the cloth and re-thread the heddles correctly. Am pleased to say it worked.

This is the back cloth. I shoved the camera under the loom, pointed skyward and hoped for the best. And it worked too.

Rocky at work. You can see that space is at a premium in this room. It is very challenging reaching the looms at the back.

Rocky’s work in progress. Those loose threads are going to be cut and ‘eyelashed’ for a 3-dimensional effect.

A couple of days in Melbourne

Murray wanted to watch the football as his obsession (The Cats) was playing. So we headed to Melbourne and stayed overnight.

We left home early and got to see the early morning light which generally manages to transform the sights.

Bleeding to death.

I got out to photograph some trees and discovered an emu staring at me. He/she was very curious and happy to model.

Then onto the highway and this is what we passed. These pigeons were having fun. How do I know? They had smiles on their beaks.

Melbourne at night – a great place to visit.